For the uninitiated, here is a brief history of SLEEPAWAY CAMP IV: THE SURVIVOR: The sequel was partially shot but never completed in 1992 due to a lack of funding. In 2002, the footage was made available for the first time as a limited bonus disc in the SLEEPAWAY CAMP box set. Producer John Klyza now has a completed cut of the film. He explains:
“After getting in contact with Jim [Markovic, director] a few years ago, I discovered that although the movie went unfinished, he had actually culled a presentation feature from the previous movies, using the ’92 scenes as a wraparound to tell the story of Allison, a girl who suffers from memories of franchise killer Angela and returns to the scene of the crimes to work through her demons. There, she interacts with a predatory ranger and a kindly hunter.
“This edit had been sitting on the shelf for years and no one was in a position to reshoot the thing, so two years ago I was on the phone with Jim, discussing getting it out there and giving closure to both the fans and the people who worked on it. Let’s face it—an unfinished sequel is a black smudge on any franchise or résumé. So we went to work on it. Most of the structure was already present, but we developed it further; Jim came up with some expository narration for the main character and had that recorded, as well as some low-level CGI to remedy one major issue: They had never gotten to the stage of shooting death scenes, and fans do expect death scenes in a SLEEPAWAY CAMP flick. So he was able to engineer a aftermath shot that became our final twist, and subsequently informed the addition of a whole underlying story thread that was fleshed out through several cuts.”
Check out a new poster designed by Stephen Romano below. Klyza and Markovic are now discussing the best way to release the film for fans to finally see it. Do you think there is hope in saving this long lost sequel, or is any effort too little and too late at this point?
SLEEPAWAY CAMP star Felissa Rose
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